Respiratory Therapist - Palm Bay Hospital - Days

Health First Careers•Palm Bay, FL

23d

About The Position

The Respiratory Therapist provides clinical respiratory care in adult and neonatal critical care areas. The role operates across respiratory care modalities, makes clinical judgments, recommends respiratory care modalities to licensed practitioners, evaluates care techniques, and reports findings to licensed practitioners. This position is based at Palm Bay Hospital and is scheduled full-time on days. The Respiratory Therapist initiates and manages invasive and non-invasive ventilation according to physician orders, including BiPAP, CPAP, and mechanical ventilation. The role also responds to STAT calls, supports acute and intensive care, and performs a range of respiratory and related procedures and monitoring. The therapist documents patient care and charges, maintains equipment, communicates with patients, families, and staff, and follows established patient safety, confidentiality, and infection-control procedures. Minimum qualifications include an associate’s degree in Health Sciences or a relevant field and a current Florida Registered Respiratory Therapist license. The candidate must hold an NBRC RRT credential and AHA BLS card before starting and maintain them. AHA ACLS and, for hospital environments, AHA PALS cards are required within 90 days of starting and must be maintained. No prior work experience is required.

Requirements

Associate’s degree in Health Sciences or a relevant field.
Florida Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) licensure.
NBRC Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) credential before the start date and maintained.
AHA BLS Healthcare Provider Completion Card before the start date and maintained.
AHA ACLS Healthcare Provider Completion Card within 90 days of the start date and maintained.
For hospital environments, AHA PALS Healthcare Provider Completion Card within 90 days of the start date and maintained.
Good communication and interpersonal skills.
Good organizational and prioritization skills; ability to work independently and remain self-motivated and self-disciplined.
Ability to make decisions about appropriate therapy and patient care and rapidly respond to life-threatening situations.
Ability to perform acute and intensive care functions for adult and pediatric patients.
Ability to interpret chest X-rays for ETT, pulmonary artery, and IABP catheter placement, and interpret basic cardiac and pulmonary complications.
Knowledge and ability to initiate Heliox therapy and understand its indications, contraindications, and complications.
Knowledge and ability to perform emergent intubation and elective oral and nasal intubations.
Knowledge and ability to perform arterial line insertions.
Ability to initiate, troubleshoot, and manage IABP modalities; proficiency in SVO2 monitoring and calibrations; and ability to pull IABP catheters according to policy when applicable.
Ability to perform bedside pulmonary function testing, observe and interpret hemodynamic monitoring and cardiac arrhythmias, and auscultate and assess breath sounds.
Additional skill checks and competency may include ECG.
Ability to attend required staff meetings and in-services and read and acknowledge required staff meeting minutes.
Demonstrate good stewardship of hospital equipment and supplies.
Physical ability to walk, stand, run, bend, stoop, kneel, climb, or crouch for most of the shift; frequently lift or move objects weighing up to 100 pounds or more, with or without assistance; and lift, turn, pull, push, or ambulate people or equipment for up to 90% of the assigned shift.
Ability to work in varied open, tight, or confined spaces and environments that may include extreme temperatures, air contamination, dirt, grease, water, biohazards, intense noise, or vibration.
Visual acuity and hand-eye coordination to perform job tasks.
May be required to travel to facilities within and beyond the county perimeter and may need to use a personal vehicle.
No prior work experience required.

Responsibilities

Initiate, manage, troubleshoot, and discontinue invasive and non-invasive ventilation per physician orders, including BiPAP, CPAP, and all modes of mechanical ventilation.
Document patient care, interdisciplinary plans of care, patient education, and charges according to Health First policies and procedures; complete assigned duties in a timely manner and maintain confidentiality.
Verify the correct patient and procedure using two patient identifiers and charge appropriately for care provided.
Maintain respiratory care equipment in good working order, troubleshoot as needed, and report malfunctioning equipment with detailed documentation.
Provide handoff reports to the oncoming shift about patients and procedures, ensuring workload completion.
Remove medication for only one patient at a time from the Pyxis system and use the medication slip to verify two patient identifiers.
Read back and verify verbal and telephone orders; report patient information promptly using the established communication approach and allow opportunities for questions and responses.
Respond to STAT calls within the appropriate time frame with proper equipment.
Follow infection-control procedures, including proper handwashing.
Educate patients, families, and staff about respiratory care procedures and participate in patient experience initiatives.
Participate in department education, committees, skills fairs, staff meetings, and required in-services.
Perform respiratory care procedures and monitoring, including acute and intensive care functions, emergent and elective intubations, arterial line insertions, Heliox therapy, bedside pulmonary function testing, hemodynamic and cardiac rhythm observation, and IABP-related tasks as applicable.